Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 289 Zheng He’s voyage to the East

"Woo-"

In May, time flew by and the day of sailing to the Western Ocean arrived as scheduled.

On the Jiangdongmen Pier in Nanjing, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses surrounded the place.

The large coat representing the emperor appears here, and Zhu Gaoxu's golden coat also appears.

The wide pier is made of cement produced in the Bohai Sea. The entire pier is strong and tidy.

Fifty treasure ships with 5,000 materials and sixty horse ships with 5,000 materials were docked at the ship's berth. There were tens of thousands of soldiers standing on the ships, and there were thousands of soldiers on the dock carrying goods.

Boxes of porcelain, raw silk, white cloth, brown sugar, tea and other commodities were loaded onto the horse-drawn ships by the hundreds. In addition, bags of food needed by the fleet were also loaded into the cabin.

"Long live your Majesty..."

When the sound of singing came, Zhu Di got off his coat, ignoring Zheng He and others who were saluting, and looked straight at the hundreds of large ships sailing to the Western Ocean.

"Second brother, let's go up and take a look!"

After all, after becoming emperor, Zhu Di began to restrain himself in speaking, and rarely used self-identifications like "I".

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu, who had just got off the golden chariot behind him, boarded a treasure ship with Zhu Di under the escort of Yang Zhan, Yang Qiu, Zheng He and others.

The seventy-two naval guns made Zhu Di excited, and the length of nearly twenty feet was enough to run a horse.

Walking to the stern of the ship, there were many wooden pots filled with soil. Seeing this, Zhu Di asked curiously: "Zheng He, what do you use these things for?"

"Reply to Your Majesty, this is under the guidance of Your Highness." When Zheng He heard Zhu Di calling him, he quickly stepped forward and bowed:

"His Highness said that on a long sea voyage, if you don't eat vegetables for a long time, you will suffer from scurvy, so you can store enough beans on the ship."

"Once there is a shortage of vegetables, you can first wash the mung beans twice with clean water, and then soak them in warm water. After the mung beans swell, put them in a wooden basin and cover them with three or four layers of cloth."

"Sprinkle water every two hours on the first day, and sprinkle water every one and a half hours on the second day. By the third day, the bean sprouts will grow to about half an inch long."

"Using this method, about five kilograms of beans can produce fifty kilograms of bean sprouts. You just need to prepare enough water."

Zheng He told everything he had learned from Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Di nodded after hearing this. He did not know much about voyages and water battles, and Zhu Gaoxu had a record of water battles raiding Nanjing. Naturally, he would not doubt Zhu Gaoxu's correctness. .

After asking these questions, Zhu Di asked in detail about the configuration of soldiers, horses, artillery and firearms.

It has to be said that the fleet that sailed to the East Ocean this time is indeed large in scale.

Fifty treasure ships and sixty horse ships, as well as forty warships with three thousand materials, a total of one hundred and fifty ships, loaded with more than 1,800 boxes of goods, more than 20,000 people, and 727 people, and artillery Five thousand seven hundred and sixty, and twelve thousand six hundred matchlocks.

In addition, there are nearly 140,000 granite artillery shells, 70,000 iron artillery shells, more than 35,000 explosive shells, 1.26 million barrels of fixed ammunition, more than 2 million kilograms of artillery propellant, grain 180,000 shi and 1.5 million jins of coal.

The entire fleet is equipped with enough supplies to keep an army of 20,000 people adrift at sea for six months.

Under normal circumstances, starting from Nanjing, it can take at most one month to reach the Yinqi Islands, and at most one and a half months to reach Treasure Island.

Facing this voyage to the East, the most difficult thing about establishing a long-term trading location in Japan was to get Japan to cede Treasure Island and the Oki Islands.

It's okay to say that Treasure Island is a place where prisoners were exiled in this era.

The Oki Islands are somewhat difficult, but as long as Zheng He plans well, the Ashikaga Shogunate will have to consider the protective attitudes of the southern countries if he wants to come.

After inspecting the navy, Zhu Di was very satisfied. After all, the voyage to the West was something he wanted to promote.

It's just that compared to his way of making a quick profit and then leaving, Zhu Gaoxu's is a slow and steady path.

"Zheng He, today I canonize you as a eunuch who goes to the East to supervise naval affairs."

Zhu Di turned around and canonized Zheng He. Zheng He bowed and knelt down after hearing this: "My slave, I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust!"

"Get up." Zhu Di motioned for Zheng He to get up, while looking at Zhu Gaoxu who said nothing.

"I'll leave the details of the voyage to the East to you. I'll go to Guanyinmen first to see the progress of Fu Rang's troop training."

"Your Majesty," Zhu Gaoxu agreed, and then he saw Zhu Di getting on a large chariot and rushing to the Guanyin Gate in the north.

Thousands of cavalry supported him and left, leaving behind an army that was still huge.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced around the Dongyang Fleet, and while nodding with satisfaction, he also looked at Yang Zhan and his son, Zheng He and the others.

"I have temporarily postponed the conquest of Annan, so you don't have to be burdened."

"This time on the voyage to the East, the attitude should be tough when it is time to be tough. In short, the imperial court must establish commercial shipping trade on Treasure Island and Yinqi Island."

"In addition, in the diplomacy with the Ashikaga Shogunate, we can offer them to recruit Japanese people to live in Treasure Island and Oki Islands, and let them mine gold and silver mines."

"Japan has a lot of silver and copper mines. We can provide them with refining technology such as ash blowing to increase their silver and copper mine production."

"If the shogunate takes a tough stance, the Oki City Shipping Division can also pay them taxes. As long as it does not exceed 30,000 guan, it is acceptable. You can also express your support for the Ashikaga shogunate's rule over Japan."

"If they don't agree to the above conditions, then show your force and let them know that Ming Dynasty is not just talking about it."

Zhu Gaoxu's attitude is obvious. For the sake of the commercial ship trade, he can give profits to the Ashikaga shogunate, but if the Ashikaga shogunate blocks the commercial ship trade, then Zhu Gaoxu will wield a big stick.

When Japan killed the Ming envoy, Zhu Gaoxu had not yet settled accounts with Japan.

If the population of the Ashikaga Shogunate were not too large and the entire land was worthless except for some silver mines, Zhu Gaoxu would even want to attack the Ashikaga Shogunate.

"This servant (minister) will teach me..."

Zheng He bowed to Yang Zhan, Yang Qiu, Zheng Jun and others, and felt confident.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward and patted Yang Zhan on the shoulder: "The voyage to the East is just the beginning. When you come back, you will have more treasure ships under your command."

"Yes!" Yang Zhan never doubted Zhu Gaoxu, and he also knew that Zhu Gaoxu had allocated another 500,000 yuan to Longjiang and other shipyards a few days ago, obviously planning to build more treasure ships and horse ships.

"Let's go." Taking a step back, Zhu Gaoxu ordered everyone to go.

Not long after, one hundred and fifty ships in the Jiangdongmen Pier began to paddle out of the ship's bay, and one by one they sailed toward the east along the current of the Yangtze River.

They are like an 'island', stretching downwards.

Seeing them moving away, Zhu Gaoxu slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

He has already done half of the work. As long as Zheng He and the others complete the remaining half, Ming Dynasty will be able to obtain at least 2 million yuan in trade income from Japan every year.

Two million guan is already a lot for the Ming Dynasty. After all, if the current Ming Dynasty takes into account the physical taxes and other monetary taxes, its fiscal revenue will only be 24 to 5 million guan.

Japan's trade income of two million dollars is equivalent to enlarging the national pie.

Facing a huge market like Ming Dynasty, an improvement of 8% is not low.

"Let's go to Guanyinmen to see how Fu Rang and the others are training."

Stepping onto the golden chariot, Zhu Gaoxu told Yi Shiha who was waiting here, and soon thousands of Bohai Jingqi escorted Zhu Gaoxu to Guanyin Gate.

Before they arrived at the military camp outside Guanyin Gate, they heard the muffled sound of cannons.

After getting off the golden chariot, after an interrogation, Zhu Gaoxu walked into the military camp outside Guanyin Gate.

The area of ​​the military camp is not small and can accommodate tens of thousands of people for training here. However, currently there are only 800 people trained here from Guangxi and the 500 Shenji Battalion responsible for training them.

In the wide square, Zhu Gaoxu saw the smoking field artillery as soon as he entered the military camp.

Ten field guns were lined up aside, and next to them were five siege guns that had not fired.

Zhu Gaoxu and Yi Shiha walked towards that direction, but saw a sudden attack of siege artillery.

"Boom boom boom——"

The five siege cannons successfully fired, and five stone bullets weighing ten kilograms were fired, hitting the large cement wall one mile away bravely, creating cracks in the cement wall poured with pig iron concrete.

"Okay! Okay!"

In the thick smoke full of sulfur smell, although Zhu Di was wearing the emperor's uniform, he was jumping up and down around the siege guns that had just been fired, wishing to hold them in his arms.

"Father, be careful!"

After rubbing his uncomfortable ears, Zhu Gaoxu walked helplessly to the position and admonished Zhu Di.

When he got closer, he discovered that Zhu Di had not only tested solid bullets, but also exploded bullets and shotgun shells.

"Your Highness!"

Fu Rang, Zhang Chun, Lin Su and other generals bowed to Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu actually saw Wang Jian among them.

When Wang Jian faced him, he was obviously a little embarrassed, so he kept his head down.

Although I don't know why he appeared here, it is not difficult to analyze from the relationship between everyone. Wang Jian should have recommended himself to the military camp for training, preparing to participate in the battle south.

Since Zhu Di was here, Zhu Gaoxu could not have a good chat with him, so he could only nodded to him and turned his attention to Zhu Di.

"Boy, your field artillery and siege artillery are both good things."

"Tell me, how many field artillery and siege artillery can the Liaodong Ordnance Bureau produce every year?"

Zhu Di seemed very happy, otherwise he wouldn't call himself me.

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu turned to look at Yi Shiha. Upon seeing this, Yi Shiha, the chief steward of the East Palace, also smiled and stepped forward to bow:

"Your Majesty, the Liaodong Ordnance Bureau has a fixed output of one thousand field guns, five hundred siege guns, and five hundred naval guns every year."

"But if the imperial court requires a large quantity, the Ordnance Bureau's production will also increase accordingly."

Faced with Zhu Gaoxu's policy of developing Liaodong through handicraft industry and agriculture, the Arms Bureau that moved to Liaoyang can be said to have continued to expand in size.

At present, the Liaoyang Ordnance Bureau directly controls the coal and iron mines in Anshan County, with more than 24,000 craftsmen. It can be said to be the first iron smelting and military factory in the Ming Dynasty.

Among the expenditures of the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion, which accounted for 50% of the imperial government's finances, nearly two million dan were spent on purchasing firearms from the Liaoyang Ordnance Bureau and paying wages. "Where's the matchlock?"

Zhu Di took the matchlock gun from Fu Rang and aimed it gracefully. It seemed that he had already tried firing before Zhu Gaoxu arrived.

"The production of matchlocks is slowing down. The annual output of ordinary matchlocks is less than 50,000 pieces, and the annual output of large matchlock guns is less than 10,000 pieces."

Yi Shiha answered, but Zhu Di said after hearing this: "With these firearms, no wonder you were able to reach Nanjing so quickly."

He looked at the matchlock gun in his hand with unfulfilled interest, handed it back to Fu Rang, and took the large matchlock gun from Fu Rang's hand.

After personally experiencing the three existences of matchlocks, field guns, and fixed ammunition, Zhu Di's inner ambition began to emerge.

His eyes were full of ambition, staring at the large matchlock gun in his hand: "With these things, the soldiers only need to train for two or three months, and with the car camps and spear formations you create, they can defeat the same number, but Hu soldiers who have been trained for more than ten years."

He realized one thing, that is, the emergence of fixed-loaded matchlock guns and field artillery solved the cost problem of settled nations unable to maintain an infantry team that could intensively engage in close combat due to their production methods.

Although the infantry group was still unable to completely suppress the cavalry's flank strikes, the nomads' exchange ratio completely lost their advantage.

Especially those elite horse archers who have spent more than ten years of their lives training hard, herding, and hunting.

Even if they were exhausted and saved up a set of iron armor, facing large matchlock guns and field artillery, they could no longer easily disperse the ordinary infantry of settled ethnic groups who had been trained for several months.

Of course, what is more important is the emergence of cement.

If they build a stone fort with cement and equip it with enough matchlocks and artillery, then the Hu soldiers will basically have nothing to do with them but to besiege them for a long time.

If the Ming Dynasty could build small stone forts all the way from the upper reaches of the Onan River to Hulanhu, would it be able to completely conquer the Mobei nomads?

This conjecture came to Zhu Di's mind, but he quickly shook his head and rejected the idea.

The upper reaches of the Onan River are more than a thousand miles away from the nearest guard station of the Ming Dynasty, and there are Gobi deserts and hills along the way.

The cost of maintaining an army on the Onan River that could resist the attacks of tens of thousands of Hu cavalry was a bit too high.

However, with these things in mind, the idea of ​​a Han as a Wuhu is not something recorded in history books, but an example that can be truly realized.

"If the horse infantry is equipped with such matchlock guns and a hundred field cannons, then only 10,000 people will be needed to sweep across the desert, and 20,000 people will be able to sweep across the desert."

Zhu Di was too familiar with Mobei. He dared to say this, but others did not dare to agree because they did not have the ability.

"Second brother, according to what I said, how many miles can the army march every day?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with burning eyes, and Zhu Gaoxu replied: "Eighty miles."

"Eighty miles is quite a lot." Zhu Di nodded, reluctant to put down the large matchlock gun.

Holding the large matchlock gun, he even settled the account for Zhu Gaoxu.

"One hundred thousand people leave Kaiping, and 80,000 people are equipped with horse-drawn carriages. It only takes one month to arrive at Qiwang City, and at least 100,000 stones can be escorted to Qiwang City."

"At that time, 20,000 people will be left to garrison in King Qi's city, and the remaining 60,000 infantry will be withdrawn to Kaiping."

"Relying on these 100,000 shi of grain, we can sustain at least 20,000 horse infantry and 20,000 foot soldiers for four months."

"Four months is enough for me to fight from King Qi's city until I suddenly lose my temperature."

Zhu Di seemed to want to go to the North Expedition, and kept talking in Zhu Gaoxu's ears.

What puzzled Zhu Gaoxu was that Zhu Di in history clearly sent generals to the northern expedition at the beginning, but it was not until Qiu Fu underestimated the enemy that he advanced and suffered a disastrous defeat, that he began his own expedition.

Why did he end up here? He didn't mention the general's northern expedition at all. He kept thinking about his own expedition.

"Father, if you really want to march north, you can simply send Duke Yingying and Duke Cheng Guo to Daning with 10,000 troops each. I will ask the Liaodong Ordnance Bureau to redress their troops and train them for a few months before marching north to Wuliang. Ha forget it.”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't want Zhu Di to go on a personal expedition. If he did so, he would be left to handle the affairs of the country alone.

"If they can't, I have to go in person."

Zhu Di was very happy holding the large matchlock gun in his hand.

Zhu Gaoxu naturally didn't understand why Zhu Di wanted to conquer it himself. After all, Zhu Di said in history that Zhu Gaochi was helping with the rear affairs, but in fact Zhu Gaochi's political philosophy was different from Zhu Di's. Zhu Di had to pay attention to the south during the northern expedition, for fear that Zhu Gaochi would express political opinions that were inconsistent with his own. Inconsistent policies.

Just like moving the capital to Beijing, Zhu Gaoxu has always supported Zhu Di in this matter, but Zhu Gaochi in history took the lead in singing the opposite tune.

Therefore, now that he has Zhu Gaoxu, the crown prince whose political views are consistent with his own, Zhu Di naturally does not want to be confined to Nanjing.

Anyway, there won't be any trouble if he's not in Nanjing, so why can't he go to Mobei to fight the barbarians?

"Even if you want to go, you have to wait."

Seeing that Zhu Di really wanted to conquer the north, Zhu Gaoxu did not stop him. After all, attacking and occupying Modong was an important part of the Ming Dynasty's advancement.

If Wu Liangha is expelled and Modong is captured, the territory within the Hu Huanyong Line in the north will be captured by the Ming Dynasty.

Relying on Modong, gradually controlling Mobei and forming Jisu rule was part of Zhu Gaoxu's vision.

As for completely conquering Mobei, considering the current population situation of the Ming Dynasty, this is not realistic.

The mining of mineral deposits in Mobei is more difficult. Instead of seeking ineffective expansion of frontiers, Zhu Gaoxu hopes to effectively control Modong, Hetao, Annan and other places.

Therefore, facing Zhu Di's enthusiasm, Zhu Gaoxu told him his arrangement.

"I thought that this year I would first set up a shipping department for trade with Japan, and then transport grain and grass to Qinzhou Prefecture in Guangdong. Fu would ask them to return to Guangxi Dusi with artillery and muskets in July to train soldiers and horses."

"Waiting for winter next year, the army will advance into Annan, and the sea and land will cooperate to capture Annan."

"If you want to conquer Modong, you have to wait at least until May of the third year of Yongle."

"My minister has calculated that between this year and next year, Bohai Zhaozhou will be able to store 300,000 shi of grain. By then, you will bring 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 garrison troops to Quanning to station. You only need to mobilize 100,000 shi of grain. You can go north and capture the Uliangha Tu City."

"As long as Wulianghatu City is captured, Zhaozhou can transport food to Wulianghatu City by water transport, and even supply the army along the way to Wulianghatu Mountain."

Zhu Gaoxu told him the time he had calculated and the money and food needed for the Northern Expedition. Zhu Di was not anxious after hearing this, but nodded and said:

"Two and a half years is indeed a long time, but the court has a lot of things going on right now, so it's normal to postpone it in the future."

"I can afford to wait, but while you wait, you have to add artillery and matchlocks to the troops in Peiping next year."

"In addition, Anbei Zheng has to ask you for a few people..."

After Zhu Di said that, Zhu Gaoxu frowned: "Who does father plan to want?"

"Wang Yi, Meng Zhang, Xu Sheng, Chen Chang, Chen Mao, they are five." Zhu Di seemed to have planned it for a long time. He spit out the names of five people without thinking, and they were all honored ministers who had performed well during the crisis. them.

"Then you won't bring the British public?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Di helplessly. After all, with this lineup, those who didn't know thought he had left Zhu Di out.

Just when he said these words, Zhu Di's face showed a bit of sigh:

"Zhang Yu has been tired recently and wants to become an official. If he does, Zhu Yong and Qiu Fu will not be able to move."

"Meng Shan is also old. Chen Wu and Tan Yuan were transferred to the northwest by me. The only ones available are Li Yuan, Meng Ying, and Zhang Fu."

"Meng Ying and Zhang Fu were transferred to Annan by you, so I had to take Li Yuan with me."

"..." Listening to Zhu Di's words, Zhu Gaoxu felt something was wrong.

Zhang Yu is only fifty-nine years old now. Considering that Zhang Fu can live to be over seventy, it is not surprising that Zhang Yu will live to be in his sixties.

What's more, in history, he died in battle because of saving Zhu Di, but now he has not experienced too many close combats at all, so how can he say that he is tired.

After thinking about it for a moment, Zhu Gaoxu felt that something was fishy, ​​but after thinking about it carefully, Zhu Gaoxu understood why Zhang Yu retreated bravely.

The news that Zhang Fu will participate in the annihilation of Annan is probably known to him, and he himself married a daughter to Zhu Di, who was canonized as a noble concubine after Zhu Di ascended the throne.

In other words, the Zhang family is already a relative. After Zhang Fuping destroys Annan, he will also be granted the title of earl. By then, their family will be somewhat conspicuous.

Anyway, the generals of the Yan Mansion were all waiting for positions, so he simply gave the position of Shanxi to the generals of the Yan Mansion. Not only could it be a favor, but it could also reduce the British government's presence.

"Old fox..."

After thinking clearly about Zhang Yu's thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but chuckled at the old fox.

With his character, it's no wonder that Zhang Fu had a good relationship with Zhu Gaoxu in history, but he didn't help Zhu Gaoxu.

The father and son family don't want to be involved in politics, but it's better this way, it's easier to control.

It's just that he wanted to retire in peace, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't allow it.

"Since the British Duke wants to retire, it depends on what father wants."

"It's just that the British man has the ability to march and fight. If he stays at home and takes care of himself, he will get sick. How about letting him go to the National Defense University to be a lecturer?"

Zhu Gaoxu could see what Zhang Yu was thinking, and so could Zhu Di, so he couldn't help but smile after hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words: "Okay, okay, I really can't let him idle."

"Father is wise!" Zhu Gaoxu praised him without hesitation. When Zhu Di heard this, he touched his beard and reluctantly handed the large matchlock gun to Fu Rang.

"If Annan is defeated this time, I will restore the title of Duke Ying."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" Fu Rang knelt down on one knee immediately after hearing this, and Zhu Di also smiled and said: "You'd better discuss it with your brothers, so that they won't be unhappy when the time comes."

"I have already exchanged letters with several of my brothers. No matter who your Majesty reinstates, I will have no objection!" Fu Rang responded with his head lowered.

Seeing this, Zhu Di stopped saying anything and just told Zhu Gaoxu:

"You have to prepare early for the transportation of grain from the Bohai Sea to Zhaozhou. After destroying Annan, I will immediately go north to defeat Wu Liangha."

"Don't worry, father." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and shook his head. Then he and Zhu Di walked out of the military camp and took their cars back to the palace.

However, when they left, the Xiadong Yang Fleet flowing down the river also passed Longtan.

Standing on the deck, Zheng He wore the python robe gifted by Zhu Di and looked into the distance with high spirits...

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "On the fifth day of the fifth month of the first year of Yongle, Zheng He was ordered to be the chief envoy, and Yang Zhan and Yang Qiu were deputy envoys to serve as envoys to the East. There were more than 2700 soldiers and many goods. They built a large A ship is one that is eighteen feet long and twelve feet wide. From Yingtian, the Yangtze River flows into the sea and goes to the East."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)